What’s So Different About Oregon & Kentucky???

21 May

The nano-second after the polls closed in Kentucky, CNN announced Clinton to be the winner of the primary there-and she won the primary with a 30 point lead. Over the last week, the press has been obsessed with Clinton being stronger against white working-class voters, as opposed to Obama, who is popular among Black (and Black people are simply Black, no nuances about class/gender divides necessary. The little discussion of other racial groups and voting as all but disappeared.) and White upper-class liberals.

But I decided to look up the Census data on both states to see if this is really true. And I am not sure that this definition explains Clintons wins in the Appalachian states (OH, PA, KY, WV, IN, TN).

Kentucky:

Whites: 90.2%

Blacks: 7.5%

High School Grads: 74.1%

College Grads: 17.1%

Median Income: $37.0K

% Living in Poverty: 16.3

Now, let’s look at Oregon:

Whites: 90.5%

Blacks: 1.9%

High School Grads: 85.1%

College Grads: 25.1%

Median Income: $42.5K

% Living in Poverty: 12.9

Now, when you compare those numbers, are they really statistically that different, enough to explain the difference between what’s happening in two states, who, by the numbers, look fairly similar compared to what the press is saying explains their differences? If you want my humble opinion, there is something happening in these Appalachian states that cannot be accounted for simply by “white working class.” Just this weekend, Obama spoke in front of 75,000 people in Oregon, and from what I could tell, most of them white. He also won the Oregon primary by about an 18 point lead.

What do you think is driving the difference?

A friend pointed me to this website called US Election Atlas, which breaks down the primary results by county. We looked at some states where we know the race/class breakdown by county, and many cases, the media narrative doesn’t seem to fit.

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6 Responses to “What’s So Different About Oregon & Kentucky???”

  1. Ben May 21, 2008 at 12:02 pm #

    Kenyon,

    I grew up in Ironton, Ohio. Very much a part of the SE OH, WV, KY tristate that’s one of the centers of Appalachia and its culture. I went to college at Marshall University, and interacted with many people from WV, KY, OH, TN, VA, PA, etc.

    In a word: racism.

    Appalachia is a place where CHANGE is a negative thing. The people there do not like change. Most of them are old. Most of the young people (esp 35 and under) move away, as I did.

    I don’t care if Barack O promised to given every last Appalachian a $1000 check…most of them wouldn’t vote for him.

    (Lots of them believe he’s Muslim and an infiltrator too. I discovered this recently when going home for my little brother’s wedding. They all believe the insanity spewed on Fox and via viral emails that he will do the bidding of the Muslims terrorists. I got into a couple of heated debates. *rolls eyes*)

  2. Chicagoan May 21, 2008 at 8:17 pm #

    Is it really racism? Hillary Clinton won KY by 35% over Obama, and yet Obama pocketed more delegates by three folds there. In addition, DNC has pressured Hillary Clinton to quit since March despite the fact that she’s got strong supporters behind her. All that said about Obama’s ability to unite whatever and to work with whoever to get work done, and most importantly, he’s got a big DNC machine behind him. Yet, he could not close the race as late as yesterday. With only three states remaining (assuming no recast in MI and FL), Obama must win all three states in order to secure the nomination by default. Therefore, my question is why in the world would the Democratic party led by Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Chris Dodd to pressure Hillary Clinton to quit? Please look into the relationship between these three men.

    As an independent voter, I now decide either Hillary Clinton for President or my vote goes to the republican party to make a statement.

  3. DNLee May 22, 2008 at 10:29 am #

    I co-sign Ben. having gone to school in TN - just outside the Applachians and knowing many people from the Applachian — it is prejudice.

    “change you can believe in” scary stuff to them. And it is hurtful to think of them as backwards, but when it comes to something as progressive as a Black person being better off (a class issue), better educated, and possibly the leader of the free world — that’s change that they can’t fathom.

  4. jim jones May 22, 2008 at 3:17 pm #

    I first heard about Clintons attempt at changing the delegate math at http://www.whitewidowreport.com Senator Clinton is a Great politician and I applaud her for her efforts. But attempting to push the argument that the delegate math has changed prior to the rules committee convening on May 31st is a bit of a stretch. Even with Michigan and Florida seated she still loses. Its time to let it go…

  5. Steve Ford May 23, 2008 at 9:20 am #

    Dream Ticket?

    **************************************************************************************************

    Voting for the IRAQ WAR, then refusing to apologize for it; 20 to 30 million supporters

    Playing the “RACE CARD”, then refusing to reject race-based votes; 95% of African American voters

    Making shell-shocked decisions after suffering heavy Bosnian sniper-fire; A campaign debt approaching $50 million dollars

    Destroying the Democratic Party with scorched-earth politics; a once glorious legacy TRASHED

    The expression on Hillary Clinton’s face after conceding on June 4th; Priceless!

    - Steve Ford

    **************************************************************************************************

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  1. Barack Obama » What’s So Different About Oregon & Kentucky??? - May 21, 2008

    [...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThe nano-second after the polls closed in Kentucky, CNN announced Clinton to be the winner of the primary there, and she won the primary with a 30 point lead. Over the last week, the press has been obsessed with Clinton being stronger against white working-class voters, as opposed to Obama who is popular among [...] [...]

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